Do Goldfish Prefer Bach or Stravinsky?

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Goldfish may be more refined than people give them credit for. A
new study shows the fish can distinguish between the works of
Johann Sebastian Bach and Igor Stravinsky.

The study may seem strange, but the results actually add to a
growing body of research showing that a variety of animals can
distinguish between different composers and musical genres, and
sometimes appear to prefer one to another.

In this case, the researchers played several songs by Bach and
Stravinsky in a series of experiments. First they trained one
group of fish to nibble on a food-filled ball while Bach was
playing — pairing the ball and the music allowed the fish to
associate the music with the
reward. When scientists played music by Stravinsky, which the
animals hadn't heard before, the fish didn't go for the food
ball, suggesting they could tell the difference between the
composers, said study author Kazutaka Shinozuka, a researcher at
Keio University. [ The
5 Smartest Non-Primates on the Planet ]

Next they played Bach's "Toccata" and "Fugue in D Minor" while
the animals were on one side of the tank, and put on Stravinsky's
"The Rite of Spring" when they were on the other end. When they
were in the middle of the tank, no music played. Researchers
measured the time the
goldfish spent on either side, concluding the fish didn't
seem to prefer one to the other.

Other animals that can tell the difference between classical
music, as represented by Bach, and more modern music, as
represented by Stravinsky, include Java sparrows, pigeons and
rats, Shinozuka told LiveScience. "But only Java sparrows showed
preference for classical music over modern music," he said.

He suggests that this preference for one type of music over
another evolved independently in Java sparrows and humans. "This
might be attributed to the necessity of auditory learning for
communication through developmental process such as language and
song," Shinozuka said. "Our goldfish study supports this
hypothesis, because goldfish do not have such a process," and do
not possess a discernable language or songs, he added.

Related research has found that monkeys,
cats and dogs respond to music that is designed to suit their
vocal frequencies and heart rate (two factors that are thought to
make music enjoyable), behaving differently than when no music is
played.

The study will be published in the October edition of the journal
Behavioural Processes.